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  • Statement on Vault-Tec Multiplayer Mod's future

    Hello fellow community,

    first let me say that I'm very thankful for your ongoing support and interest in the mod. I constantly receive messages over YouTube, IRC etc. of users asking for assistance on setting up and running vaultmp, as well as users wishing the best for the mod (of course, special thanks fly out to all the active forum users: Farlo, Volumed, Tomo, Aleksander, just to name a few ). This is great motivation for continuing work on the mod!

    However, development of vaultmp requires spending a lot of free time, which I ultimately don't have (due to university and job commitments). The reason for 2-3 months of stagnation is basically that.

    Now to the good news. As you all know, christmas holidays are coming and my plan is to focus on vaultmp again in this time (~1-2 weeks). Depending on how fast I'm able to get back into the business, this is quite a lot of time to make good and fast progress (in peak times, I've been working 16hrs a day on vaultmp, I feel I can do it again ).

    The current state of vaultmp is of course not satisfying. Not only is the functionality rather unstable, it also takes the average user way too much effort and knowledge to install and test the mod. Reasons for that are lack of documentation and software restrictions.

    I've been making my mind up about technical stuff already. One major issue is the built-in asynchronicity, which is a relict of the time when I wasn't able to do it differently. I don't want to get into the details, but here's a quick explanation of the problem: vaultmp uses the script engine of the Bethesda games to access data, control actions etc. Currently the interface works asynchronously. That is, the code requests execution of a game function, and the result isn't directly returned to the caller, but to a listening thread (which leads to an insane amount of difficulties with game syncing and network communication). This was necessary back when the API was bad and slow. As this is no longer the case, I'm going to put direct calls in place, which should make the entire functionality faster, easier, and more stable.

    If all goes well, I can perform this overhaul in a couple of days. I finally want a stable and 99.9% working sync, even if it's simple; this has highest priority. The next version will be released when this is done, followed by tutorials on how to setup a server and install vaultmp. (I will put the master server back online, too; at the moment I don't want to run the server because I don't see a point in testing the mod anymore, it's just too unstable).

    Next goal will be to support The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. I bought the game and I'm deeply impressed by it (although it crashes every 10-15mins, lol), and I'd like to add support for it. It isn't too much effort to do so: development of vaultmp is largely independent from the individual Bethesda games, as the script engines work mostly the same. The cost vs. benefit is just too great to not do it

    That's the plan. Still, there is so much more to do: completion of the GUI and chat, adding more server-side scripting capabilities...the mod is Open-Source for a reason I personally believe that Open-Source is the best way of making the software successfull and great in the long term, and I want this for vaultmp, too. For any developers out there: contribution is always appreciated (thanks to houstin!) and I'll do my best to extend documentation and answer any question regarding the source.

    That's it I will keep you posted of the progress as soon as the holidays started. Seeing you in the forums / chat!

    Recycler
    Comments 31 Comments
    1. Aeronix's Avatar
      Aeronix -
      Thank you for keeping us updated with the project. As for the commitment that I have given to the project is not a problem at all. I completely understand your other needs and think it's best that they're a priority to you.
    1. frankpetrov's Avatar
      frankpetrov -
      Love it! Can't wait for the next update of course I've been slowly learning some new languages so could you possibly tell me which version of visual studios is being used to develop so I can get it and maybe help? :3
    1. Aeronix's Avatar
      Aeronix -
      Quote Originally Posted by frankpetrov View Post
      Love it! Can't wait for the next update of course I've been slowly learning some new languages so could you possibly tell me which version of visual studios is being used to develop so I can get it and maybe help? :3
      Correct me if I'm wrong but, I think CodeBlocks is being used to develop this project.
    1. foxtacles's Avatar
      foxtacles -
      Yep. Technically it doesn't matter which IDE you use, but you need to compile with GCC 4.5 or higher (on Windows, use MinGW)
    1. Volumed's Avatar
      Volumed -
      Long live VaultMP!
    1. Dovahkiin's Avatar
      Dovahkiin -
      Multiplayer for Skyrim? Awesome! However, there are already two mods that are developing multiplayer for Skyrim (Tytanis and Skyrim Online), which already fragments an online community. You may want to join or collaborate with one to reduce fragmentation. it's your choice though!
    1. Dantiko's Avatar
      Dantiko -
      God bless you Recycler and all helping on this mod, it's simple perfect how you worked so hard and isn't waiting for nothing in return, so as Volumed said:
      Long live VaultMP
    1. Genocyber's Avatar
      Genocyber -
      Skyrim Online already has a chat feature (but not much else, especially compaired to this beauty), perhaps you could collaberate with those guys, could save you the work of the chat implimentation. https://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3592 and https://skyrim-online.com/?page_id=41
    1. foxtacles's Avatar
      foxtacles -
      https://www.vaultmp.com/showthread.ph...ull=1#post3440

      One of those guys who believe that if he would go open-source everybody would "steal" and start their own mod. Psychologically speaking: the developer fears losing importance / people who would even do better than him if open-source. Or he plans to make profit. The only two reasons to not go open-source with a mod like this, IMHO.
    1. Genocyber's Avatar
      Genocyber -
      Yeah I totally arrived to the party late regarding this. Seems like a really insecure move on his part. Sharing is caring
    1. CTCCoco's Avatar
      CTCCoco -
      Great! Thanks for the update.
    1. Dovahkiin's Avatar
      Dovahkiin -
      Quote Originally Posted by Recycler View Post
      https://www.vaultmp.com/showthread.ph...ull=1#post3440

      One of those guys who believe that if he would go open-source everybody would "steal" and start their own mod. Psychologically speaking: the developer fears losing importance / people who would even do better than him if open-source. Or he plans to make profit. The only two reasons to not go open-source with a mod like this, IMHO.
      Yeah, he promptly denied Tytanis when he asked for collaboration, likely because he wants to remain of importance. IMO Skyrim online will be forgotten (it is off of the Nexus front page already), and will be destroyed by the much larger Tytanis mod. If anything, you may want to collaborate with Tytanis.
    1. Jenna's Avatar
      Jenna -
      This looks like a good mod, but....

      There aren't any servers online!
      I think it's connected to the announcement server, so why are there no games showing up?

      Someone needs to rent a server and put it online so us new users get a good demo
      Otherwise people might think the mod doesn't work..
    1. Volumed's Avatar
      Volumed -
      Because the master server is offline they will come back in some weeks with a new update.
      "rent a server" Why pay for something what is not yet playable, there are some nice youtube video's online if people want to see a demo it's nothing more or special.

      People have to wait and read the goddamn forum.. >.>
    1. Dantiko's Avatar
      Dantiko -
      Quote Originally Posted by Jenna View Post
      This looks like a good mod, but....

      There aren't any servers online!
      I think it's connected to the announcement server, so why are there no games showing up?

      Someone needs to rent a server and put it online so us new users get a good demo
      Otherwise people might think the mod doesn't work..
      There you said, the mod doesn't work, it really doesn't work properly, all we can do is see other players, if we shot them they won't even know it, we can't even chat with them.
    1. Agent's Avatar
      Agent -
      When i get the game off ebay ill be honoured to help test this (cause from looking on youtube its now out of pre alpha and in alpha) so yeah, if this works, we are going to be famous

      oh and erm sorry for no intro XD, im Agent and i saw this mod and it looked epic on youtube
    1. BobbyCorps's Avatar
      BobbyCorps -
      I'm not gunna lie... this is the most legit and promising mod i have every seen. The team is into what they do, there always seems to be progress being made, and honestly who doesn't think a fallout mod is awesome? I will have no problem donating to this once the mod is a little more stable and i know a couple of friends who will do the same. Keep up the great work!
    1. coolbeans316's Avatar
      coolbeans316 -
      hay man i love this game and me and a friend of mine was talking about multiplay and if it could be used u need more guys on this mod to help u out i dont know poo about it so sorry. But hay thanks for this man a million thanks and dont get down or let it die out.
    1. kickassbr's Avatar
      kickassbr -
      this mod can bein the history of RPG....you guys have to leave us update don when the mod will be ready.....sites and sends updates.Also try to do a tutorial to help everybody
    1. kickassbr's Avatar
      kickassbr -
      Everytime when I try to run the vaultmp appears that the version is not supported help me please